Women Scholars of Hadith (Part Two)

In part 1, the author highlighted the scholarly efforts of Muslim women in learning and teaching Hadith. He traced these efforts in the early days of Islam, in the period of the successors, and in the period of Hadith compilation. He cited many names of women who participated, side by side with men, in teaching Hadith, especially the Sahih of Imam Al-Bukhari.

Apart from these women, who seem to have specialized in the great Sahih of Imam Al-Bukhari, there were others, whose expertise were centered on other texts. Umm Al-Khayr Fatimah bint `Ali (d. 532/1137) and Fatimah Ash-Shahrazuriyah delivered lectures on the Sahih of Imam Muslim (Ibn Al-`Imad IV: 100). Fatimah Al-Jawzdaniyyah (d. 524/1129) narrated to her students the three Mu`jams of At-Tabarani (Ibn Salim 16).

The lectures of Zaynab of Harran (d. 68/1289) attracted a large crowd of students. She taught them the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the largest known collection of Hadith (Ibn Salim 28f).

Juwayriyah bint `Umar (d. 783/1381), and Zaynab bint Ahmad ibn `Umar (d. 722/1322), who had traveled widely in pursuit of hadiths and delivered lectures in Egypt as well as Madinah, narrated to her students the collections of Ad-Darimi and `Abd ibn Humayd. And we are told that students traveled from far and wide to attend her discourse (Ibn Al-`Imad VI:56).

Zaynab bint Ahmad (d. 740/1339), usually known as Bint Al-Kamal, acquired “a camel load” of diplomas; she delivered lectures on the Musnad of Abu Hanifah, the Shama’il of At-Tirmidhi, and the Sharh Ma`ani Al-Athar of At-Tahawi, the last of which she read with another woman traditionist, `Ajibah bint Abu Bakr (d. 740/1339) (Ibn Al-`Imad VI:126; Ibn Salim 14, 18; Al-`Umari 73). “On her authority is based,” says Goldziher, “the authenticity of the Gotha Codex. ... In the same isnad a large number of learned women are cited who had occupied themselves with this work” (Goldziher II:407). With her, and various other women, the great traveler Ibn Battuta studied traditions during his stay at Damascus (Ibn Battuta 253).

The famous historian of Damascus Ibn `Asakir, who tells us that he studied under more than 1,200 men and 80 women, obtained the ijazah [a certificate of learning a number or a collection of hadiths from a certain traditionist, entitling its holder to teach these hadiths] of Zaynab bint Abdur-Rahman for the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik (Yaqut, Mu`jam Al-Buldan, V:140f).

Other important traditionists included Zaynab bint Ash-Sha`ri (d. 615/1218). She studied Hadith under several important traditionists, and in turn, lectured to many students—some of whom gained great repute—including Ibn Khallikan, author of the well-known biographical dictionary Wafayat Al-A`yan (Ibn Khallikan, no. 250). Another was Karimah the Syrian (d. 641/1218), who is described by biographers as the greatest authority on Hadith in Syria of her day. She delivered lectures on many works of Hadith on the authority of numerous teachers (Ibn Al-`Imad V: 212, 404).

In his work Ad-Durar Al-Karimah, Ibn Hajar gives short biographical notices of about 170 prominent women of the eighth century, most of whom are traditionists, and under many of whom the author himself studied. Some of these women were acknowledged as the best traditionists of their period. For instance, Juwayriyah bint Ahmad, to whom we have already referred, studied a range of works on traditions, under both male and female scholars who taught at the great colleges of the time, and then proceeded to give famous lectures on the Islamic disciplines. “Some of my own teachers,” says Ibn Hajar, “and many of my contemporaries, attended her discourses” (Ibn Hajar I, no. 1472).

`A’ishah bint `Abdul-Hadi (AH 723–816), who for a considerable time was one of Ibn Hajar’s teachers, was considered to be the finest traditionist of her time, and many students undertook long journeys in order to sit at her feet and study the truths of religion (Ibn Al-`Imad VIII: 120f).

Sitt Al-`Arab (d. 760/1358) had been the teacher of the well-known traditionist Al-`Iraqi (d. 742/1341), and of many others who derived a good proportion of their knowledge from her (Ibn Al-`Imad VI, 208). Daqiqah bint Murshid (d. 746/1345), another celebrated woman traditionist, received instruction from a whole range of other women.

Information on women traditionists of the ninth century is given in a work by Muhammad ibn `Abdur-Rahman As-Sakhawi (830–897/1427–1489), called Ad-Daw’ al-Lami`, which is a biographical dictionary of eminent persons of the ninth century.

A further source is the Mu`jam Ash-Shuyukh of `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Umar ibn Fahd (812–871/1409–1466), compiled in AH 861 and devoted to the biographical notices of more than 1,100 of the author’s teachers, including over 130 women scholars under whom he had studied. Some of these women were acclaimed as among the most precise and scholarly traditionists of their time, and trained many of the great scholars of the following generation.

Umm Hani Maryam (778–871/1376–1466), for instance, learned the Qur’an by heart when she was still a child, acquired all the Islamic sciences that were being taught at the time—including theology, law, history, and grammar—and then traveled to pursue Hadith with the best traditionists of her time in Cairo and Makkah. She was also celebrated for her mastery of calligraphy, her command of the Arabic language, and her natural aptitude in poetry, as also her strict observance of the duties of religion (she performed the Hajj no fewer than 13 times). Her son, who became a noted scholar of the 10th century, showed the greatest veneration for her and constantly waited on her towards the end of her life. She pursued an intensive program of learning in the great college of Cairo, giving ijazahs to many scholars. Ibn Fahd himself studied several technical works on Hadith under her (As-Sakhawi XII, no. 980).

Her Syrian contemporary, Bai Khatun (d. 864/1459), after having studied traditions with Abu Bakr Al-Mizzi and numerous other traditionalists, and having secured the ijazahs of a large number of masters of Hadith, both men and women, delivered lectures on the subject in Syria and Cairo. We are told that she took special delight in teaching (As-Sakhawi XII, no. 58).

`A’ishah bint Ibrahim (760–842/1358–1438), known in academic circles as Ibnat Ash-Sharaihi, also studied traditions in Damascus and Cairo (and elsewhere), and delivered lectures which eminent scholars of the day spared no efforts to attend (As-Sakhawi XII, no. 450). Umm Al-Khayr Saida of Makkah (d. 850/1446) received instruction in Hadith from numerous traditionists in different cities, gaining an equally enviable reputation as a scholar (As-Sakhawi XII, no. 901).

Throughout the history of feminine scholarship in Islam it is clear that the women involved took their seats as students as well as teachers in pubic educational institutions, alongside their brothers in faith.

So far as may be gathered from the sources, the involvement of women in Hadith scholarship, and in the Islamic disciplines generally, seems to have declined considerably from the 10th century after Hijrah. Books such as An-Nur As-Safir of Al-`Aydarus, the Khulasat Al-Akhbar of Al-Muhibbi, and the As-Suhub Al-Wabilah of Muhammad ibn `Abdullah (which are biographical dictionaries of eminent persons of the 10th, 11th, and 12th Hijri centuries respectively) contain the names of barely a dozen eminent women traditionists. But it would be wrong to conclude from this that after the 10th century women lost interest in the subject. Some women traditionists, who gained good reputations in the 9th century, lived well into the 10th and continued their services to the Sunnah. Asma’ bint Kamal Ad-Din (d. 904/1498) wielded great influence with the sultans and their officials, to whom she often made recommendations which, we are told, they always accepted. She lectured on Hadith and trained women in various Islamic sciences (Al-`Aydarus 49).

`A’ishah bint Muhammad (d. 906/1500), who married the famous judge Muslih Ad-Din, taught traditions to many students and was appointed professor at the Salihiyah College in Damascus (Ibn Abi Tahir; see COPL, XII, no. 665ff.). Fatimah bint Yusuf of Aleppo (870–925/1465–1519) was known as one of the excellent scholars of her time (Ibn Abi Tahir, see COPL, XII, no.665ff.). Umm Al-Khayr granted an ijazah to a pilgrim at Makkah in the year 938/1531 (Goldziher II:407).

The last woman traditionist of the first rank who is known to us was Fatimah Al-Fudayliyah, also known as Ash-Shaykhah Al-Fudayliyah. She was born before the end of the 12th Hijri century and soon excelled in the art of calligraphy and the various Islamic sciences. She had a special interest in Hadith, read a good deal on the subject, received the diplomas of a good many scholars, and acquired a reputation as an important traditionist in her own right. Towards the end of her life, she settled at Makkah, where she founded a rich public library. In the Holy City she was attended by many eminent traditionists, who attended her lectures and received certificates from her. Among them, one could mention in particular sheikh `Umar Al-Hanafi and sheikh Muhammad Sali. She died in 1247/1831 (Ibn Humaid. See COPL, XII, no. 758).

Throughout the history of feminine scholarship in Islam it is clear that the women involved did not confine their study to a personal interest in traditions, or to the private coaching of a few individuals, but took their seats as students as well as teachers in pubic educational institutions, alongside their brothers in faith. The colophons of many manuscripts show them both as students attending large general classes, and also as teachers delivering regular courses of lectures. For instance, the certificate on folios 238-40 of the Al-Mashikhat ma At-Tarikh of Ibn Al-Bukhari, shows that numerous women attended a regular course of 11 lectures that was delivered before a class consisting of more than 500 students in the `Umar Mosque at Damascus in the year 687/1288. Another certificate, on folio 40 of the same manuscript, shows that many female students, whose names are specified, attended another course of six lectures on the book, which was delivered by Ibn As-Sayrafi to a class of more than 200 students at Aleppo in the year 736/1336. And on folio 250, we discover that a famous woman traditionist, Umm `Abdullah, delivered a course of five lectures on the book to a mixed class of more than 50 students at Damascus in the year 837/1433 (COPL, V/ii, 54).

Various notes on the manuscript of the Kitab Al-Kifayah of Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi, and of a collection of various treatises on Hadith, show Ni`mah bint `Ali, Umm Ahmad Zaynab bint Al-Makki, and other women traditionists delivering lectures on these two books, sometimes independently, and sometimes jointly with male traditionists, in major colleges such as the `Aziziyah Madrasa and the Diy’aiyah Madrasa, to regular classes of students. Some of these lectures were attended by Ahmad, son of the famous general Salah Ad-Din (Saladin).

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